We’re proud to announce our new partnership with cybersecurity experts CovertSwarm.
As digital cements its place at the heart of the modern economy, data has become its lifeblood, and the most valuable asset in any business or marketing strategy.
But that value comes with risk — data leaks or malicious breaches can lead to huge damage to brand reputation and legal consequences, and that risk is growing exponentially every single day.
In the marketing world, the importance of data is even higher. As brands focus on countering the demise of third-party data and cookies, building large amounts of first-party data has become a priority for every CMO.
Our partnership with CovertSwarm means Hallam clients can benefit from close integration of services, and increased layers of security in the way data is handled and protected from attacks and potential breaches.
We caught up with our CEO, Julio, and CovertSwarm’s CEO, Anders Reeves, to discuss the partnership, the current business landscape and why cyber security within the marketing sector has never been more important.
Anders, could you tell us a bit more about CovertSwarm?
A: We’re a cyber attack solutions provider, sometimes referred to as ‘ethical hackers’. We use every possible weapon in the hacker’s arsenal to test a company’s limits and break down their cyber defences, so they know exactly where the vulnerabilities lie – before someone else finds out.
We’re not a red teaming agency, or a penetration testing consultancy – we’re an unstoppable onslaught that brings together every element of multi disciplinary cyber security testing.
Julio, why was it important to you to create this partnership with CovertSwarm?
J: CovertSwarm is an ambitious and unique company that can bring huge benefits to our clients as part of a value-add service offering. We also strongly believe in the importance of working with like-minded businesses to form a service ecosystem that benefits all our customers.
Because I strongly believe in CovertSwarm’s offering, I’ve also joined their board of directors as their chief marketing officer; I’ve admired the work of CovertSwarm and the founders from the very start, so I’m really happy to be part of their journey into the future.
Julio, why is cyber security so important within the marketing sector right now?
J: This partnership underlines the importance of cyber security in the marketing ecosystem in the age of first-party data. As CMOs and their teams move to counter the demise of third-party data in the cookieless future, a top strategic priority for all brands is a robust and scalable first-party data strategy.
Our partnership with CovertSwarm is specifically designed to safeguard brands from potentially catastrophic GDPR breaches and brand damage caused by data.
Anders, as marketers, we’re very used to handling data and making sure it’s GDPR-compliant – and making sure that the consent and opt-in is watertight! But, from a cyber security perspective, how could this be under threat from attackers?
A: Customer data is at the top of attackers’ hit lists. Why? Because first-party data is growing faster than security can keep up; for many companies, their customer data sits in a CRM which has multiple user logins across the business, often with poor password safety.
The bad news is that attackers won’t wait around until next year’s scheduled pen testing to crack them wide open. Our team will find the cracks in your company’s security and flag them, so we can get there before someone else does.
